Lewis Hamilton made it five wins in seven races and extended his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings even further with a dominant victory in Belgium last weekend, but can he now make it three-in-a-row by winning this Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix?

Hamilton came into the 2020 as the bookmakers’ favourite to win it all once again and the first seven races of the season have done nothing but confirm what the bookies and all of us thought coming into the campaign – it was going to take some effort to prevent the Mercedes ace from romping to world title number seven.

The six-time world champion endured a nightmare start to the season, by his high standards, as he was forced to settle for fourth place in the delayed season opener, but since then he has been almost unstoppable with the only other blemish on his record coming when he finished second in the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone. That is the sort of blemish almost every other F1 driver would welcome and celebrate at this time!

But not Hamilton. He has established himself as the clear number one driver in the sport, aided by the number one car, and he has to be considered the man to back for the victory on Sunday. Hamilton was upstaged by Charles Leclerc in 2019 Italian Grand Prix, but he has been victorious in five of his last eight visits to this track and Mercedes have provided the winner in five of the last six. Current form and track record all points to a win for him here, but I am going further and backing him for Pole Position too – he has turned front row on the grid to victory five times already this season and should make that number six in Italy.

I also expect the Winning Margin to be between 5 and 10 seconds (inclusive). Hamilton blew away the opposition in Spain a few weeks back, finishing 24.177 seconds ahead of second place, but that is the only ‘blow-out’ race in terms of the gap between him and the runner-up this season. Three of his last four winning margins have been between 5 and 10 seconds, and that could become four in five as he takes the chequered flag here.

My final recommendation is something of a ‘bold prediction’ – although this track record is not that bold. Haas drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen have provided more DNFs than any other team so far this season, with the latter being the worst hit with three retirements in seven races. That has to make him the leading contender to be the first retirement here, and while he was not the first to go here 12 months ago, he did fail to finish. Lightning could strike twice for Magnussen on Sunday.

Italian Grand Prix Preview: Circuit Guide

With the exception of a handful of races, the city of Monza has been the host site from the Italian Grand Prix since it was introduced back in 1921. It has been forced to undergo numerous changes over the years in an attempt to boost driver, staff and fan safety because the circuit has been the site of a string of incidents that have resulted in the deaths of over 80 people. But even after those changes, the Italian Grand Prix remains one of the races that produces the highest speeds of the Formula 1 season. Michael Schumacher had been the most successful driver in the history of the Italian Grand Prix prior to the 2018 season, but with his fifth career win that year Lewis Hamilton moved level with the German legend in the all-time race standings.

Location: Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy
Number Of Laps: 53
Lap Length: 3.600 miles
Lap Record: Rubens Barrichello 1 minute 21.046 seconds (2004)

Italian Grand Prix Winners

YEAR	DRIVER	TEAM	CIRCUIT
1921	Jules Goux	Ballot	Brescia
1922	Pietro Bordino	Fiat	Monza
1923	Carlo Salamano	Fiat	Monza
1924	Antonio Ascari	Alfa Romeo	Monza
1925	Gastone Brilli-Peri	Alfa Romeo	Monza
1926	Louis Charavel	Bugatti	Monza
1927	Robert Benoist	Delage	Monza
1928	Louis Chiron	Bugatti	Monza
1931	Giuseppe Campari Tazio Nuvolari	Alfa Romeo	Monza
1932	Tazio Nuvolari	Alfa Romeo	Monza
1933	Luigi Fagioli	Alfa Romeo	Monza
1934	Luigi Fagioli Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes-Benz	Monza
1935	Hans Stuck	Auto Union	Monza
1936	Bernd Rosemeyer	Auto Union	Monza
1937	Rudolf Caracciola	Mercedes-Benz	Livorno
1938	Tazio Nuvolari	Auto Union	Monza
1947	Carlo Felice	Alfa Romeo	Milan
1948	Jean-Pierre Wimille	Alfa Romeo	Valentino Park
1949	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Monza
1950	Giuseppe Farina	Alfa Romeo	Monza
1951	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Monza
1952	Alberto Ascari	Ferrari	Monza
1953	Juan Manuel Fangio	Maserati	Monza
1954	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	Monza
1955	Juan Manuel Fangio	Mercedes	Monza
1956	Stirling Moss	Maserati	Monza
1957	Stirling moss	Vanwall	Monza
1958	Tony Brooks	Vanwall	Monza
1959	Stirling Moss	Cooper-Climax	Monza
1960	Phil Hill	Ferrari	Monza
1961	Phil Hill	Ferrari	Monza
1962	Graham Hill	BRM	Monza
1963	Jim Clark	Lotus-Climax	Monza
1964	John Surtees	Ferrari	Monza
1965	Jackie Stewart	BRM	Monza
1966	Ludovico Scarfiotti	Ferrari	Monza
1967	John Surtees	Honda	Monza
1968	Denny Hulme	McLaren-Ford	Monza
1969	Jackie Stewart	Matra-Ford	Monza
1970	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	Monza
1971	Peter Gethin	BRM	Monza
1972	Emerson Fittipaldi	Lotus-Ford	Monza
1973	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	Monza
1974	Ronnie Peterson	Lotus-Ford	Monza
1975	Clay Regazzoni	Ferrari	Monza
1976	Ronnie Peterson	March-Ford	Monza
1977	Mario Andretti	Lotus-Ford	Monza
1978	Niki Lauda	Brabham-Alfa Romeo	Monza
1979	Jody Scheckter	Ferrari	Monza
1980	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-Ford	Imola
1981	Alain Prost	Renault	Monza
1982	Rene Arnoux	Renault	Monza
1983	Nelson Piquet	Brabham-BMW	Monza
1984	Niki Lauda	McLaren-TAG	Monza
1985	Alain Prost	McLaren-TAG	Monza
1986	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	Monza
1987	Nelson Piquet	Williams-Honda	Monza
1988	Gerhard Berger	Ferrari	Monza
1989	Alain Prost	McLaren-Honda	Monza
1990	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Monza
1991	Nigel Mansell	Williams-Renault	Monza
1992	Ayrton Senna	McLaren-Honda	Monza
1993	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Monza
1994	Damon Hill	Williams-Renault	Monza
1995	Johnny Herbert	Benetton-Renault	Monza
1996	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Monza
1997	David Coulthard	McLaren-Mercedes	Monza
1998	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Monza
1999	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Jordan-Mugen-Honda	Monza
2000	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Monza
2001	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW	Monza
2002	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	Monza
2003	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Monza
2004	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari	Monza
2005	Juan Pablo Montoya	McLaren-Mercedes	Monza
2006	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari	Monza
2007	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Mercedes	Monza
2008	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	Monza
2009	Rubens Barichello	Brawn-Mercedes	Monza
2010	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	Monza
2011	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Monza
2012	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Monza
2013	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	Monza
2014	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	Monza
2015	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	Monza
2016	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	Monza
2017	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	Monza
2018	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	Monza
2019	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	Monza